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UPDATE: An Ikea spokesperson said the company wouldn't commit to whether or not Mackay might be on its radar, but whatever the case, there is no harm in making the call.

An Ikea spokeswoman said yesterday that Ikea was not looking to open a store in Mackay in the near future.

Reader poll

Do want an Ikea store in Mackay?

This poll ended on 03 February 2016.

Yes - 83%

No - 16%

This is not a scientific poll. The results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate.

We asked what readers thought on our Facebook page.

Lucy Gibson: How about Walmart? We need things that will provide jobs and are sustainable with Mackays financial climate at the moment. Needs to be something that will bring the tourists and to lift our economy enough for businesses to feel like setting up shop here.

Sally Howard: I would love IKEA and it would open up amazing work opportunities for so many but how is it going to be sustained in this economy....so many businesses are already struggling...or failing here

Would you support an IKEA coming to Mackay? There's been whispers in the business community the furniture superstore chain may be looking to expand in the North.

EARLIER: It' pie in the sky but right now all ideas for jobs creation should be considered.

Enter the expansion plans of international flat-pack giant Ikea.

As news of the company's expansion plans filtered through business circles, our region's leaders had a mixed view on how we could market ourselves as Ikea's next big thing.

Mackay Chamber of Commerce president Kylie Porter tempered the idea with a dose of reality, stating it would take nothing short of "another mining boom" to bring something of this scale to town.

Caution, too, from Mackay's interim tourism boss James Corvan.

But never say never.

Ms Porter said Ikea had a very specific plan about "where they position themselves in terms of their market".

There was currently only one in south Brisbane, which serviced a catchment of millions.

And there was a second also planned for North Lakes later this year, she said.

The Chamber of Commerce president didn't want to be negative, but realistic about the prospect.

"You will only find an Ikea in a major metropolitan centre," Ms Porter said.

"Mackay can't currently support an Ikea based on their current models in Australia."

Ikea chose locations where the business could be at maximum size, knowing it would be servicing a really big population base, Ms Porter said.

This was one of the problems with "big box-type retail", she said.

While Mr Corvan said an Ikea would certainly attract people to town, he agreed that Mackay's population, including the extra numbers an Ikea would draw, wasn't enough to attract the major franchise to town.

When asked if a Field of Dreams 'build it and they will come' approach could work, Mr Corvan said businesses were very "risk adverse" these days.

"They do all the sums before they commit themselves," he said.

"They want to see all the number on paper."

An Ikea spokeswoman said yesterday that Ikea was not looking to open a store in Mackay in the near future.